Education

Persistent CA education gaps fuels conflict

Caught amid shifting standards, court challenges and retrenching combatants on both sides of social and political divides, California’s education system has found itself burdened by persistent gaps in student and teacher performance — a state of affairs fueling the very

CA appeals court reverses landmark ruling that upended teacher tenure

James Poulos April 15, 2016

In national news with profound statewide reverberations, a California appeals court reversed the controversial decision handed down two years ago in Vergara v. the State of California and the California Teachers Association. “At issue were five state laws that established layoff

Critics demand accountability for education-funding tax prior to extension vote

Matt Fleming April 5, 2016

Proponents of a 12-year extension of a temporary tax used to bolster education funding may ask voters to consider the measure prior to a full vetting, with critics demanding accountability. By law, the state Controller’s office is supposed to audit Proposition 30’s

Public unions prevail as split Supreme Court sinks Friedrichs suit

James Poulos March 29, 2016

A landmark California case against state teachers unions’ mandatory dues collection fell victim to the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s absence from the Supreme Court — salvaging “a long-standing rule that requires about half of the nation’s teachers, transit workers and

Anti-Israel movement faces pushback from University of California

Chris Reed March 19, 2016

The BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) movement has been gaining momentum at American colleges in recent years with its message that Israel’s policies toward Palestinians amount to apartheid. According to the last annual report issued by the Israel on Campus Coalition, in

Lawmaker: Expel students who engage in worst ‘sexting’

Chris Reed March 17, 2016

At a time when the U.S. legal system is facing critics from both the Left and the Right for overprosecuting mistake-prone young people and leaving permanent scars on their lives, a California lawmaker wants to allow schools to expel students

Big money readies for fight over tax extension

Matt Fleming March 10, 2016

A hospital association just pumped $12.5 million into an effort to extend a tax on top earners — a tax that’s provided billions of dollars in education funding since 2012. In fact, the California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems quadrupled its investment

Parental privacy panic pays off as judge changes mind

Chris Reed March 8, 2016

A lawsuit over how the disabled are treated in California schools triggered a parental panic attack after a federal judge ordered that a database with records on every public school student in the Golden State since 2008 be given to

Lawsuit argues CA education spending is constitutionally insufficient

Chris Reed February 25, 2016

When it comes to lawsuits arguing that California’s education system is unfair and unconstitutional, the Vergara v. California case has gotten the most attention. A court hearing Thursday in Los Angeles began the state government’s appeal of Superior Court Judge

UC Berkeley deficit crisis threatens its long-term stability

James Poulos February 19, 2016

Dramatically reopening what had seemed to be a settled matter, the University of California at Berkeley revealed plans for a sweeping spending reassessment due to vast deficits. Berkeley chancellor Nicholas Dirks said “the university had a ‘substantial and growing’ deficit that could threaten its